OK, hadnt thought it much until Detroit passed Philly tonight, but still cant finish 6th or 5th because of the new format. Unless they catch TB (doubtful, but wow wouldnt a Det/Mont matchup first round be perfect?), they will finish 7th and they will play Pitt.

So for argument's sake, lets say Columbus finishes 8th. (could be TO, even NJ now, but...). Lets say Bos beats Col and Det beats Pitt... I was thinking the low/high seeding would come into play and the B's would play Det.

But no, there's brackets that include the Div Bost won, and the 2-3 Mon/TB teams, and the bracket Pitt is in, with NY-Phi.

Det "traveled" to Pitts bracket to beat Pitt, so they would then be matched with the winner of NY/Philly and the B's would play the winner of Mont/TB.

The old format way of thinking would make you think the top seed (Bos) would play the lowest remaining (Det #7). But, nooooo.

I knew they had to play out of their own divisions, but the wild card teams put an interesting spin on this thing.

So Bos vs Det for the right to go the Cup Final? Wow. May have to pick up drinking again.

My, my what an eloquent attempt at being bummed you can't root for your favorite team against the Bruins. You'd much rather come on here taunt everyone after the Bruins go down a goal and crow that there season is presumably over.

I will use the same adage from 2011, "Fear no team". Too many ifs to eliminate any team. I think the new format is fine. I particularly hope Toronto makes into the playoffs. 5 of the 6 originals in the playoffs.

It's not so much the 1st round I don't like because the 2 top seeded teams will play against the lowest seeded. It's the 2nd round I don't like .

The way it's set up the 2 best teams in the conference can meet as early as the 2nd round. Maybe not this season but in seasons to come. I preferred when everyone is done in the 1st round they re-seed (best plays worst) but I'm sure many of you are salivating at the possibility to meet the Habs in the 2nd round. I'm not and for personal reasons also.

The way they have it setup kind of beats the purpose working hard all year to get best possible seeded position.

Lower seeded teams seem to be picking it up some, more importantly is the fact some teams are styggling lately, Pittsburg, anaheim, st louis and so on. so very interesing to see how new format works out for the lower teams.

It's not so much the 1st round I don't like because the 2 top seeded teams will play against the lowest seeded. It's the 2nd round I don't like .

The way it's set up the 2 best teams in the conference can meet as early as the 2nd round. Maybe not this season but in seasons to come. I preferred when everyone is done in the 1st round they re-seed (best plays worst) but I'm sure many of you are salivating at the possibility to meet the Habs in the 2nd round. I'm not and for personal reasons also.

The way they have it setup kind of beats the purpose working hard all year to get best possible seeded position.

I'm not looking forward to it other than it means the B's won their 1st round matchup,secondly i'm counting on the Bolts to beat the Scabs,i have $100 riding on it. Other than that the B's have to go by the "fear no team" motto.

What I have heard, this is the only year this type of crossover can happen. It is because of a mistake in the wording in the cba, and the NHL & Player's Association have agreed it will be changed during the summer.

What I have heard, this is the only year this type of crossover can happen. It is because of a mistake in the wording in the cba, and the NHL & Player's Association have agreed it will be changed during the summer.

Where did you hear that? I thought this playoff format came with the realignment and this was it going forward?

It seems to me that an 82-game regular season is sufficient for determining seeding, without a bunch of artificial loopholes based on the standings within arbitrary divisions. Keep it simple stupid.

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No doubt. They play a balanced schedule within the conference, so there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't continue with the format they've had in recent years of 1 playing the 8, 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5.

The only change floated out there I like is the idea of a complete re-seed for the last 4 standing regardless of conference. Play the first two rounds and re-seed who's left. Last year it wouldn't have made a difference with Chicago (1) playing LA (4) and Pittsburgh (2) playing Boston (3)...but if those exact teams were the last four standing this year, Boston (1) would get LA (4) and Pittsburgh (2) would get Chicago (3) in the Semis, thus leading to a potential BOS-PIT or LA-CHI Cup Final. Awesome.